


Masquerade

by fireflydvke



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Lovers, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25910581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireflydvke/pseuds/fireflydvke
Summary: Adora just so happens to find a new roommate named Catra, and they hit it off right away. Of course, Adora is hiding the fact that she is Brightmoon's superhero known as She-Ra who fights the Horde, but that's not important, right?? Catra is super nice about helping Adora patch up the bruises that show up on her, and Adora does likewise with the strangely familiar cuts and wounds that show up on Catra.Alternatively: Adora is a superhero, Catra is a supervillain, and both of them are roommates without knowing that they are each other's greatest enemy. (I'm bad at writing summaries ajsfijoiawjfi)
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	1. Prologue

Adora wasn’t sure that she was ready for her new roommate.  
She needed one, of course, since Bow and Glimmer had decided to get their own place. But she was running out of time, and, subsequently, running out of rent. She’d put the ad up online 3 weeks ago, and last week her phone had buzzed with a reply from a frantic girl. Rent was due next week, so she had decided, essentially, to say ‘fuck it’ and hope that her new roommate wasn’t a serial killer.  
Either way, she was nervous. She’d never been the best at talking to people. She sat on her couch in the tight living room, waiting for her roommate to arrive.   
And so she sat and watched time tick by idly.  
And she waited.  
And waited.  
Adora kept checking her watch for the time. She said she’d be here at 3:30, it’s 4:20?  
With that thought, there was a sharp knock at the door. Adora jumped, startled, and walked to the door and opened it. She was met with two different-colored eyes and a smirk. "Hey, Adora." 


	2. Knockout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be out for my wisdom teeth for a few days, but I'm working hard on outlining! Thank you for the support :) Also, I'm gonna rewrite the prologue because it doesn't really make sense anymore (it was the first thing I wrote when I had this idea, and the story has changed in my head since then). Anyways, enjoy this short chapter to give you a small sample of what this story will be like, most of my chapters will be longer!

Adora grunted as her opponent struck her in the gut. Sweat dripped on her forehead as she took a light step backwards, pulling her fists up in defense. She furrowed her brows in concentration, watching for another punch, blocking it with her forearm. 

Come on, Adora, get your head in the game.*

The crowd buzzed around her. She stayed on the defense, carefully avoiding her opponent, her feet dancing around the ring. 

“Come on, Red!” A crowd member shouted. 

Adora glared at her competition, a smirk playing at her lips. She could feel them growing tired. A few strands of their platinum hair stuck to their forehead, loose from a long ponytail. Their breath grew heavy and paused for only a moment, but it was just enough time for Adora to know.

Adora struck. One after another, jabbing quickly and pushing them into a corner. Part of the crowd cheered lightly. Adora smirks fully, watching their forehead crease, feeling a bead of salty sweat make its way down her cheek. 

Then, Adora struck the final blow to their cheek, knocking them to the ground, and the crowd began counting. Adora stayed light on her feet, knowing that the fight may not be over, but internally knew that her punch was just enough to knock them out for a little over the ten second mark. 

“8… 9… 10-- KNOCKOUT!” The unofficial referee shouts, and part of the crowd cheers, turning to the other half of the crowd for the bets that they’d won. 

Adora grins and looks around, but nobody is actually paying attention to her. She knew that. It always was the case. People were more preoccupied with making money than the people actually fighting for their bets. And Adora was the underdog, another thing that was painfully obvious by the amount of disappointed faces that she could make out. 

She sighs, catching her breath, and looks down to her opponent. Double Trouble, they called them, a big fighter in the underground fights. Adora had to admit, they could pack a punch, and were pretty good at deceiving.

Adora just knew she was better. 

They sat up, sighing and looking at Adora. “Well well well, what a wonderful performance,” they said. Adora smiled, less smugly than before, reaching out her hand. “You really had me in the first half, not gonna lie to you.”

Adora chuckled, lifting them to their feet. They both made their way through the crowd, with only a few ‘congratulations’ and ‘good fight’s on their way to the locker room. “Well, you really did have me going. Sorry about your face, by the way.”

Double Trouble laughed. “Don’t mention it. I get a new bruise every day, it’s part of the gig. Makes me look intimidating on The Outside, which is fabulous.”

The Outside. Adora’s smile wavered slightly as the adrenaline faded and reality set in. She’d once again have to go home, sleep, wake up, and go to the same dead-end job.

And she absolutely fucking hated it.

“What do you do on the Outside?” 

“Oh me? Take a wild guess.”

Adora thought for a moment. “Gym trainer? Or maybe you’re like, an assassin or something, that would be cool. I dunno.”

Double Trouble laughed, unraveling the wraps on their hand. “Not even close. I’m an actor.” They dramatically raised their hand to the sky, like shakespeare held his skull. 

“Woah,” Adora said. “That’s not what I thought at all.”

“I live to perform, both on stage and in the ring.” Adora shrugged. “What about you, Red? What do you do on the Outside?”

“Oh. Nothing nearly as cool as acting. I work in sales.”

Double Trouble raised a brow. “Sales? No wonder you fight so often.”

“So you’ve heard of me?” Adora smirked. 

“Your reputation proceeds you, Red. You’re quite a fighter. Persistent. I’ve heard that you’re up here a lot. And I heard that you didn’t used to be this good…” Double Trouble smirks. “Looks like someone’s been teaching you?”

It was less of a question, but regardless Adora wasn’t sure how to respond. “No. I’ve just been training more. I guess it’s the practice.”

Double Trouble inspects Adora carefully. “Hm. Well, don’t get too cocky, hot-shot.” With that, they grab their gym bag and leave Adora sitting on the bench alone in the locker room.  
~~~  
Adora fell back into her twin bed with a dramatic sigh, gazing at the ceiling in a daze. With each deep breath rang the deafening silence. It was too quiet. Adora was painfully aware of the nothing that surrounded her. She was used to the room being filled with light and endless discussions and music. 

She turned her head to look at the other bed in the room. Glimmer hadn’t liked the idea of sharing a room, but Adora insisted that she hated sleeping alone. They’d been enemies a few years before, but it slowly turned into a friendship that Adora cherished. She could only hope that Glimmer did the same.

If she thought hard enough, Adora could imagine Glimmer sitting there, telling her all of the stories of her high-school life that Adora hadn’t been there for, and of the adventures her and her boyfriend, Bow, had gone on. She could hear Glimmer’s voice, filled with laughter and spite. She could see her talking and talking and waving her hands around while carrying a whole conversation on her own. 

But the bed was empty, and Adora was never much good at holding one-sided conversations. 

She needed a new roommate, and she knew that. Glimmer had moved in with Bow, which made sense since they’d been dating a year, but it still left Adora feeling… Abandoned.

Just like she always ended up.

And with the opened envelope sitting on what little counter space the kitchen had to offer, Adora knew her time to find a roommate was running out. She’d put up an ad a week ago online, but nobody had really seemed interested. She’d gotten one message from a 42 year old man who said he’d pay for all of the rent if she did-- well, Adora had blocked him before finishing the message. 

The other message felt promising-- the girl was her age, they seemed to be compatible. It wasn’t like they had talked a lot, but Adora was excited to meet her. She seemed super sweet. The only problem was, after talking for a few days, the girl had told Adora that she’d found another place and apologized. 

Adora grabbed her phone. A couple of messages from Glimmer, a dog picture from Bow. The rest of her notifications were drier than bone: a coupon for a restaurant she’d been to once, and a spam email from some Nigerian prince that would have been funny if it weren’t the 3rd one of the week.

Another heavy sigh escaped her throat. She sat up, wincing from the soreness of the fight. It was a little past 1 in the morning. She knew she needed to get sleep, and she supposed that turning off the light was how most people started that process. 

When she laid back down and looked back to the ceiling, the glow in the dark stars that Glimmer had spent hours putting up sparkled. Adora looked at them blankly, part of her hoping that the loneliness would stop soon. 

Maybe then she would be able to sleep again.

~~~

Her phone started buzzing at 3am. 

Adora rolled over, only half-asleep, and picked it up. “Who the hell…” She whispered, looking at the unknown number. “Huh?”

Unknown: Hey, is this Adora?  
Unknown: I’m texting about the roommate thing  
Unknown: Just let me know when you get this, if you’re normal you’re probably not awake haha. Btw my name is Catra

Adora laughed a little to herself. 

Adora: Not normal, unfortunately. Nice to meet you  
Catra: Damn I’m surprised, looks like we’ll get along then  
Adora: Maybe so  
Catra: Want to meet somewhere tomorrow?  
Catra: Technically it’s today but you know. Are you free?   
Adora: I mean, are you a 45 year old man?  
Catra: Lmao no, I’m 21  
Adora: You’d be surprised. Anyways, how about the coffee shop on 22nd and 3rd? Porters?  
Catra: Never been, sounds good. My treat  
Catra: What time?  
Adora: Today’s my day off of work so whenever works for you  
Catra: How about noon? Makes it pretty easy to remember  
Adora: Alright, see you then. 

Adora flipped her phone over onto her nightstand. She wasn’t all that ecstatic about meeting a complete stranger that had texted her at 3 in the morning, but at least she’d get coffee out of it. She rolled over and closed her eyes again, trying to let herself relax enough to fall asleep. 

~~~

“Hey, cutie, can I get your number?”

The man leaned all of his weight onto Adora’s table, where she sat uncomfortably close to his face. 

“Uh. No.”

His face twisted slightly. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to give you my number. I don’t know you.”

The man smirked. “Well, my name’s Ethan. What’s yours?”

“Becky,” she lied. 

“Now we know each other. C’mon, I’m a nice guy, its just your number.”

Adora tried not to scowl at him. He was obnoxiously close. She knew that she could beat his ass, right then and there. She thought about it, briefly imagining punching him in the throat. A one-shot knockout. But then she remembered where she was, and that she’d rather not get kicked out of her favorite shop.

I’ll just give him the wrong number, she decided. “Fine. It’s--”

“Her number is 1-800-FUCK-OFF.”

The voice came from behind the guy. Adora blinked, looking around him. A girl stood with her arms crossed and a brow raised in a stone-cold look. 

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, now get out of her face and get back to whatever mediocre life you have.”

The man looked stunned, angered. His face grew red, but he seemed to notice the amount of eyes around the coffee shop that were on him and wisely decided to duck out, mumbling something about how ‘men aren’t even allowed to be nice to women anymore’. 

The girl watched him leave the shop defeatedly before bursting into laughter. “God, men are so fragile,” she said, before turning back to Adora, who still stood silently, taking in the girl’s looks for a moment. She had long brown hair, dark eyes, and a sharp nose. The girl was wearing a leather jacket, a red shirt, and black jeans-- an outfit that screamed biker-chick to Adora.

The girl walked over and sat across from Adora. “Hey, Adora,” she said, smoothly. 

Adora felt her heart skip a beat. “Uh, do I know you-?”

“What, am I that late that you forgot who you were meeting?”

Adora’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment. “Sorry, duh. I’m just tired. You must be Catra. I’m Adora-- well, you already knew that, sorry.”

Catra looked at Adora for a prolonged moment with an expression that Adora couldn’t identify, before laughing fully again. “Nice to meet you, Adora.”

~~~

“Hey, Adora.”

Catra stood in the doorway, a suitcase at her heels. Adora smiled warmly. “Come on in.” She moved out of the way and opened the door wider. “Do you have boxes downstairs, or..?”

“Nah, this is it.”

Adora was almost impressed, if not baffled. “That’s it?”

“Yeah. Like I said at the coffee shop, I’m pretty broke. I’ve been living out of this suitcase for a while.”

Adora raised her eyebrows and frowned. “Huh, that’s crazy. Cool, too.”

“So, this is the place?” Catra said, putting her case down next to the small red sofa. “Not quite what I imagined. It’s pretty small,” she said bluntly, glancing from the kitchen to the cramped living room with a small TV that Adora had found on craigslist. 

“Hah, what did you imagine?”

“I dunno, honestly. You seemed like you’d have more stuff.”

“No, I’m kinda like you in that way. Not much of a things-person.”

Catra smiled. “Yet another thing that we have in common. You’d think we’d have met already.”

Adora laughed. “Our room is this way.”

The bedroom was the biggest part of the apartment, although still a bit small, it had room for a large desk, two beds, and a pretty decently-sized closet for the one-bedroom apartment. Since Glimmer had left, the closet was pretty empty, and it didn’t look like Catra was going to change that much. 

Catra walked over to her bed, lifted her suitcase, and set it down on top before sitting down. “Pretty comfy, huh? Did you buy these?”

“No, actually. My friend who moved out had a kinda rich mom who helped out with some small things.”

Catra laughed. “Must be nice,” she said under her breath. 

Adora, still standing awkwardly in the doorway, cocked her head. “What must be nice?”

“Having a rich mom. Having a mom in general.”

Adora stood, stunned, for a prolonged moment before migrating to her bed and sitting down. “Guess that’s another thing we have in common.”

Catra looked up, a slight sparkle in her eye. “Really?” The spark quickly disappeared. “Sucks to be us, huh?”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

Neither of them spoke for a minute. Adora tried to think of something to say, but couldn’t seem to come up with the right words. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to ask what happened to Catra’s mom, or if she should just leave it alone for the time being. Adora thought about it for a little too long, part of her panicking because of the silence. 

“Anyways, wanna order a pizza?” Catra grinned at Adora, who promptly sighed with relief. 

“Sounds great.”


End file.
